A list of partially read books that just never seem to get finished.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael ChabonThe Bear and The Dragon by Tom Clancy
The Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Edition by Oxford University Press
Horseshoes, Cowsocks, and Duckfeet by Baxter Black
Tricky Business by Dave Barry
S,M,L,XL by Rem Koolhaus and Bruce Mau
The Gormenghast Novels by Mervyn Peake
Design Whys: Designing Web Site Interface Elements by Eric Eaton
How to Win a Local Election by Judge Lawrence Grey
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
Mutations by Rem Koolhaus, et all.
Information Anxiety 2.0 by Richard Sual Wurman
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnecut
and finally, as if it's a big surprise to anyone...
Designing CSS Web Pages by Christopher Schmitt
Join the fray by reading through and commenting at the end.
For the record all of the forementioned books are excellent reads, I just have a serious lack of an attention span.
1) Drop the Tom Clancy and the Steven King, you'll feel better about yourself in the morning really. 2) You don't really have to read Rem Koolhaus and/or Bruce Mau. Just look at the book(s) repeatedly. Technical work books don't count. They're reference books. Give 'em a quick skim to see whether they were a total waste of money and then leave them on the shelf until you need to solve a problem or have an idea. The Bible, Ha! Nix that one straight away. Your list is now down to six, and you can knock those off by summer. Get to it.
I've always been kicking myself for not reading Koolhaas' "S, M, L, XL." If it's not worth considering, that's one literary/architectural guilt trip down the drain.
Am I to understand that people have actually set out to read S, M, L, XL? Neat. (I say that because I care.)
Just read the last 100 or so pages of The Bear and the Dragon. It's really the only part that's worth reading... the rest is sort of boring.
Psssssssst! I'm hiding Ice Nine under my bed.
I just recently bought my copy of S,M,L,XL but I've been wanting a copy for about a year and half but could not afford the $250+ dollars that collectors wanted for the book. Recently a second edition was printed (with purple lettering on the cover) and retails for a much better price.
As for reading this book, sure it's not a novel but the devil is in the details as is the case with S,M,L,XL. An excellent edition to any library.
If you're going to really not read something I highly recommend the +1000 pages of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. But then ... after a few months, I went ahead and read the sucker. It's good both ways.
For me: Ten Thousand. I'm sure it's a good read. But like a lot of Greek fiction, it's very detailed, and rather slow reading. Still, it's a book about war...bloody, savage, war. I should like it!
Sure, the popular answer to the Bible is to "Nix that one straight away" but I would argue that no other book could more profoundly change you for the better. We're all a work in progress...
The Iliad. Somehow, I got through The Odyssey. I really want to finish it, though.
Wow. $250.00! I passed on S, M, L, XL when it came out because I was full up with Koolhaus & cie, much like I have long been tired of Mr Gehry. When I think of the other architectural books which have slipped though my hands when I could not afford them it brings on a frown. Forget about the price of some of those at this point. I could not even find copies that anyone wants to give up. Luckily, it can be solved with a visit to a friend or a good architecture library.
I've read the Bible, twice over, in different forms, and I've been through +12 years of formal Christian education. It's an important work to know of course --- if only because it's the most alluded to book in all or art and literature (and there is some damn good Italian art on the subject). That said, it's a shambling, disjointed, self-contradictory work which has inspired as much profound suffering over the last couple thousand years as it has 'change for the better.' In the end, as a book, it's quite disappointing. Of course if you believe it's the inspired word of God or some such thing, I guess you're not interested in a debate on its literary merits. For the record, I would say that the New Testaments and Epistles are a much better read than the Old, although the Old is where all the juicy bits are. If it's religious texts one is after, I'd recommend others. If it's well-written, profound literature, filled with lucid theory on man's place in the universe, I'd certainly recommend others. If it's texts with historical import, I'd recommend others as well.
Well surely. If you're reading it only for literary value than you'll be disappointed. I read it to learn more about it's true author. You've decided that it's not inspired by God so I can see your viewpoint. I, on the other hand, believe it to be inspired and thus see it as infinitely more important than any other book.
Yeah, the Bible isn't ment to compete with the New York Times bestsellers list. Everyone will understand this when they hit I Chronicles, the 13th book of the Bible. For example:
See, I'm already falling asleep.
I kinda like the Bible more with popup ads and banners for 42" plasma TV's. Kinda puts in all in its proper place. Good link.
If those are all the books you ain't finished yet, then you have a long way to go to catch up with me. :-)
I have 100 books in my book collection that I've yet to even look at.
Some of those books I bought as long as a decade ago. :-)